I'm female. I'm old enough to know better, but young enough not to care. I love taiko, hence the penname. If you don't know what taiko is... then you're missing out! Search 'Kodo drummers' on youtube and you'll probably get a bunch of videos of exemplary taiko, to taiko-inception your life.

In case you are wondering, my avatar is NOT the Sharingan. The 'three comma' symbol is called a mitsudomoe and it's a Shinto symbol. Wiki it if you want to know more about it in that regard-- I have it on my avatar because it is often used in taiko, branded either on the drum heads or on the performers' clothes.

Blanket Disclaimer:

I make no money off of writing here. These characters and worlds are generally not mine. I'm only borrowing them for some amusement.

THINGS

The Philosophy of Self (and Something to Live For)

These are personally my favorites of my stories. I'm not entirely certain why; it may perhaps be because I liked the tone of them, it came smoothly to me when I was writing them. And I was pleased by the ending I was able to give the characters. It felt clean, redeeming.

Going Sideways

Going Sideways has fanfanfiction! SomebodyLost was kind enough to start writing a collection of drabbles/shorts inspired by my fic. This is the first bit of fanwork I've gotten and it's a real honor! Check it out at http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8858437/1/Going-Waysides

Chapters are based on a 100-prompt challenge, and tally between 300-3,000 words. This isn't going to change.

The 'Dream' Universe

Four of my fics are a series. I'm going to post the order in which they should be read here, just in case it is otherwise unclear. Perchance to Dream - Ravel, Unravel - Shades - Horizons

FIC STATUS

All fics are complete. I am taking a break from writing Naruto fanfiction, though I'll still be lurking around the fandom. Thank you to all who give these stories and ramblings a go. Don't hesitate to PM me, because I am keeping up with my messages. I receive and cherish all reviews, even if I might not respond directly to them.

I have another account here, which I wrote under before becoming TaikoHawk, and to which I am now returning. If you are interested in Rurouni Kenshin fanfiction, check me out as Relik.

Back in time and armed with years of future knowledge, Sakura is ready to take the world by storm. Except... she's four again, not twelve. Ah well, nobody said she couldn't start a little early. Gen, time travel, AU, Sakuracentric.

When first he laid eyes upon her, he thought her the very personification of spring. He watches, from the depths of shadow; waiting to steal her away from the land of the living. Waiting to make her Queen of the Dead. Hades/Persephone retold. SasuSaku.

For Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage, the day started out like any other. But then Jiraiya walked into his office with a teen that could have been Minato's clone and that bore the name of his vanished lover. His day just got very, very interesting. AU

When Sakura twisted time and space, the lives of those around her are inevitably changed. A collection of short stories about various characters in various scenarios from TaikoHawk's flashfic, "Going Sideways".

Naruto has always carried his father's legacy, in more ways than one. When an attempt to replicate the Fourth's greatest technique sends him to times long passed, he must take up that legacy, far more directly than he ever dreamed.

Sabaku no Gaara lands in the past to a time where everyone fears him and his father is still alive. He realises regaining everyone's trust will be difficult, especially when they still think he's a blood-thirsty psychopath. No pairing. Time Travel.

Kill the family. Leave the village. Wait to die. That had always been the plan. But when that system fails somewhere between surviving and undergoing emotional overhaul in Suna, even Uchiha Itachi is starting to believe the universe has it in for him.

An epidemic forces the Kazekage to summon aid from Konoha. But from the horrors of disease to the ties of family and clan, from the fine line between executive and dictator to the complexities of international policy, nothing is ever so simple.

After the Forest of Death, Sakura comes to realize that being weak is no longer an option. However, she finds that change is sometimes painful and that truth doesn't always come easy. Luckily, she'll have some help along the way.

Always the Team Mom, Sakura opens up her home as a clinic for the hospital-phobic ninja of Konoha. At the same time, her relationship with Kakashi begins to evolve in a way she never expected. M for swearing and later content.

After years of silence the Akatsuki are active again. Her allies uncertain, the Godaime sends two teams - one for a potential offensive strike and another for covert surveillance. Who would have guessed that Shikamaru and Sakura could fake it as newlyweds so well? ShikaSaku with early (one-sided) hints of SasuSaku. COMPLETE.

Six year old Haruno Sakura was short, skinny, and high-pitched to a painful degree when she could be goaded into raising her voice. The twenty-two year old Haruno Sakura was cursing her younger self. Still, she had a whole life to get ready for. Again. AU, done really, really, really slowly. [DISCONTINUED DON'T HURT YOURSELF BY STARTING TO READ IT]

[FANOWRIMO CHALLENGE] Most people seem to think that developing a doujutsu is a wondrous, unspeakably lucky occurrence. Considering that she now has to deal with an ability she has no idea how to use, family drama, fashion crises, and the world's most rude and vulgar doctor, on top of getting to know her new genin team just after graduation...needless to say, Sakura begs to differ.

SasuSaku: "I don't do it because I think you're weak! I do it because—! Because I… just… Never mind." Years later it finally happened. Unfortunately, she just didn't care anymore. A story of love and irony, where one is oblivious… and the other is Sasuke.

AU. Seventeen-year-old Hatake Kakashi sat down with the bundle cradled against his stomach, almost as still as the thing in his arms. But it wasn't going to stay that way and he was clueless as to what he should be doing.

She wished with all her heart that she could change that fateful day. The day two brothers' souls were irreversibly broken. She should be careful with what she wishes. She might just get the chance. Time travel fic. ItaSaku

The Wave Mission was a failure. They got caught, captured, taken-it didn't end well. Now Sakura has a half-heard order, uncut fingernails, and more desperation than bravery. One way or another, she's getting Team Seven out today. Complete.

Konoha is on its way to recovery with Kakashi at the helm. Sakura thinks that she's getting back on track with her life. Until Itachi walks back into Konoha, a free man. One secret had once torn them apart. What about the other? Sequel to The Lost One.

And so that was how it had been. He wouldn’t always come into her office to stare out her window. Some days, even weeks would pass before she saw him again, but true to his routine, he would soon be sitting in her office once more. SasuSaku.

ANBU Captain Uchiha Itachi had things well planned out, until a medic-nin with ridiculous hair went and made herself interesting. Sakura insisted she was just doing her job, but Itachi didn't quite see it that way. Non-massacre. Sakura/Itachi.

Trapped in a quagmire of suspicion after a mission's disastrous results, Sakura misplaces her sanity. What else can a mere pawn in a game of theft, sabotage, and scientific experiments do? Here, the dead speak. KakashiXSakura & minor KibaXSakura

When Suna attacks, Naruto and Gaara must abandon Konoha, find the other jinchuuriki, and unlock the secrets of the Village of Shadows, or all is lost. But it is only six years later, when Konoha comes demanding help, that the last Great War begins.

Memories lost, Itachi began to settle into life as a civilian in a secluded village. But when fate thrust Sakura into the picture, he knew he could no longer avoid his past. ItaSaku. Spoiler up to Manga Chapter 449. Prequel to The Return of the Heir.

Sequel to Time and Again. Naruto has gone back in time from a war ravaged future and has a chance to set things right, but despite his efforts things seem to be worse rather than better. Akatsuki, Orochimaru, Danzo... some jinchuriki have no luck at all.

After receiving a time travel jutsu as payment for a mission, the original four members of Team 7 each get a chance to go back to one event in their life and change it. Surely they will use such an awesome power responsibly...right? Don't count on it.

Two enemies strike a bargain to save what they both hold dear. He will reveal a truth that shakes her beliefs, drawing her into a web of lies and betrayal. She will offer the redemption for which he never hoped and show him how to be human again. ItaSaku.

KakaSaku. War is coming to Konoha and Sakura is far from home, uncertain of her future. But one thing is for sure, Sakura will protect her unborn child at all costs, whether it be from Konoha's enemies... or from its own father.

Uzumaki Naruto must admit he never thought he'd be in that spot again. Then again, distortions of time and space weren't really something the academy prepared you for. Inspired by Lionheart. DUE FOR REWRITE. SEEKING BETA.

COMPLETE. Itachi had chosen to involve Sakura in something that he did not wish for in the first place. What he did not expect was for her to quickly become the centerpiece of the events surrounding him. Ita-Saku Non-massacre AU. Sequel to The Chance.

AU/AD. Namikaze Naruto has led a charmed life under the protection of the Fourth Hokage. But now, after sacrificing himself for his home, he finds himself waking up in an entirely new world, surrounded by a village that despises him.

AU ItaSaku “He called it a Gift,” Sakura said, a note of bitterness filling her voice, “But it’s really my curse." Caught when her curse forces her to break into the Uchiha house, she comes face to face with a patient who strikes her a bargain...

Fifteen-year-old Sakura never expected to become a traitor to her village, but in a Konoha ruled by Danzou, she has no other choice. Finding her path entangling with the village's most infamous renegade, though, was another story entirely. ItaSaku AU.

Complete. AU from 309 onwards. Following a botched mission, Sakura is made a slave by Sound, a position that could very well alter the future…especially concerning a certain familiar missing-nin. SasuSaku.

KakaSaku. Sakura is dealt one death too many and comes close to slipping over the brink. Is Kakashi, having experienced nearly the same, the only one who can bring her back from the edge? Together they eventually re-learn what it means to live.

Time Travel fic. In a war torn future, in the burning ruins of Konohagakure, Naruto fights Orochimaru and loses as the world collapses around him. From that ending comes a new beginning and a new chance to set things right, if only he can figure out how..

“You can only hate someone whom you have the capacity to love, because if you are really indifferent, you cannot even get up enough energy to hate him.” Hate and love. Where is the line between the two? GaaraxSakura. Quote by Sri Chinmoy.

"Sasuke Uchiha, did you just sell me to your crazy older brother?" How Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto learn that stealing Christmas trees off the Interstate is not the way to go. With help from Law Enforcement Agent Itachi Uchiha, of course. ItaSaku AU.

When it looks like everything might be taken away, Gaara can at least be grateful that he doesn't have to meet his challenges alone. Now if he can just hold things together for long enough to figure out where Naruto went . . . GaaSaku, Finished!

Kakashi takes a moment to wrap his mind around equating Ino’s chest with enemy shinobi while Asuma begins beating his head against the table and groaning about how he didn’t sign up for this. Rated for language and the general horror that is puberty

Growing up gets a little more treacherous, as friendship, caring, and the rehabilitation of those in need eventually all boils down to . . . What? LeeSakuGaa triangle, just to confuse things. Finished!

Jutsu intrinsically twist the laws of physics and what is possible. Sakura really shouldn't be surprised when accidentally mixing a few of them pretzels time and space. Flashfic series. Alternate universe/time travel.

Sequel to 'Perchance to Dream', 'Ravel, Unravel', and 'Shades'. Tying up the loose ends, kicking some political butt, and redefining Konoha. Includes many characters in five different flashfics showing the aftermath of 'Shades'.

Sequel to Perchance to Dream. The world is at war, Akatsuki is on the prowl, and a corrupt Hokage rules Konoha. The group of exiled ninja called Genshi must face these problems, or watch as everything they love and stand for is destroyed. Rated for L & V.

Uchiha Itachi hadn't planned for this possibility, but then, if he'd had his way, he would be dead. How this had happened was a useless question. What mattered was, what would he do now? To be or not to be... It all hinged on his choices. Time travel.

Kakashi-centric flashfics detailing moments in his life, childhood and after. Sometimes serious, other times silly. The people he knew, the missions he completed; everything molded Kakashi into who he is now. Highlights Kakashi's friendship with Obito.

Future AU. It was all so logical, but believing it would mean admitting everything she knew was a lie. Sakura struggles to find the truth in her life and her village. The catalyst? A half-blind prisoner who was privy to it all...